This morning was my last morning waking up in Bay Lake Towers! I woke up extra early to sit and look at my Castle. It never gets old. I could take a whole vacation and do nothing but look at the Castle. After showering and getting dressed Pete and I headed over to the main building of the Contemporary Resort. We had a breakfast date with some great friends and Mickey & the gang.

Laura and Jennifer were there and we checked in and got our picture taken.

We got a great table and hit the buffett. Before long the characters started coming around. They don't wait any time at Chef Mickey's!

We had a good time at breakfast and I was so glad Laura and Jennifer made it to breakfast. The Marathon was this morning so traffic was bad. The girls were heading to the Magic Kingdom and Pete and I had a boat to catch. We said our goodbye and shared hugs before we parted ways.

This was the view from the walk way between Bay Lake Towers and the Main building.

This was the view facing Bay Lake.

We sat on the balcony a little while until we saw this......

Our Limo was here!!!! We grabbed our bags and headed down to the lobby.

It took a little longer then usual to get off property since there were detours for the race. It was nice to be riding in style.

We got to the port and checked in. We got number 8, so we started waiting. Well then Laura calls me and she got lost in the airport then they checked in at the airport for the cruise. The called number 8 but since our family wasn't there yet we traded with a family that had number 21. Pete waited at the steps we missed Alyssa and Austin so much. Finally we saw them! YAY!!!!

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Alyssa was so excited to start her Disney Cruise! We got in line to see Mickey. Pete and I had bought Alyssa an Autograph book while we were in the Magic Kingdom. Notice her hands in her mouth...we discoved that is what she does when she is nervous!

We got a great group shot! Our Tie Dyes looked so good together!

We got on the ship and had the picture taken before being annouced as "Princess Alyssa's Family".

Once we got on I went to the member services desk and got our tickets for the Tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter. I also turned in the Pillow cases I made to get signatures for the kids.

We headed to Parrot Cay for lunch!

After lunch we stopped for a quick dance party! Alyssa was already having so much fun! It's no wonder that Disney Cruises have shot to the top of her favorite vacation list.

It was now after 1:30pm so we could go check out our rooms. We were close to the evelator when Pluto wanted a look at our baby Austin!

We cut through Beat Street to the elevators closest to our room. Alyssa love "walking in the road"!

She also loved the portholes. She climbed in them evertime we walked by them.

Pete and I had arranged for a special deliverly to be waiting in Alyssa's room. This was her Birthday Cruise! She was very excited!

She loved it all. We had ordered it from A Perfect Gift. Shirley toook care of us and it was full of sand toys, juice boxes, her favorite snacks and a few extras....

We started to unpack some then we had to head to the Walt Disney Theater for our life boat drill. But in all honesty if the boat was going down I am running right to a boat and jumping in. LOL

It was time for the Sail away party. I love the Sail away party!!!

Alyssa LOVED it! She danced and cheered and enjoyed it whole heartedly. Austin on the other hand....

Everytime the crowd cheered he screamed and we all laughed! LOL So mean of us!

Once the party was over we took Alyssa up to the kids club to get all checked in and to play awhile. She loved it, the rest of us were tired! The kids club was great though I wish DCL was around when I was like 8 or 9! WoW!

see tired...

The first day goes so fast and before we knew it we had to get dressed for dinner! We had the late dinner, which I prefer it gives you time to do somethings without rushing too much!

This Pasta dish was so good.

But Alyssa enjoyed this alittle more. So much more she had one every night for the next 6 nights!

We had a special guest at dinner. Pete's favorite Mickey Mouse!!

Alyssa was already making friends with out assistant waiter. He was great and so nice!

After dinner I think we walked around the ship a little before heading to bed. Look even sleepy my girl is adorable!

When we got back to our room there was another gift for being a Gold Castaway Club Memeber!

Love your report so far, especially all the photos! Which ship were you sailing on and to what ports? We were on the Dream in May and will be taking our first 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Magic in January!! I'd love to hear how your weather was throughout the cruise. Since it's going to be in January I'm a little worried that it will be cold!

Today was the day we were going to be docking in Key West. The Magic did not dock until 1pm so we had some time in the morning to sleep in a little before our character breakfast. We headed to Parrot Cay a few minutes early and were seated right away!

The characters started coming around pretty fast!

Alyssa and Austin loved them all....except Pluto. He scared Alyssa so much. Look at her little face!

Breakfast was really good.

Except....Mickey Waffles are NOT the same in the parks and on the Cruise ships. These were dense and not very tasty. I have just discovered the goodness of a Mickey Waffle at Walk Disney World a few days prior, so I was disappointed!

Alyssa would get so excited each time a new character would come by!

After some drama over Brandon's breakfast the waiters made us all fun hats out of napkins. Look at Pete's...

We still had a few hours before it was time to get off the ship. We walked around some.

Then it was time to learn to Do-Si-Do with Snow White. Alyssa was not registered in the kids club this cruise. She still visited the nursery. But we took her as often as possible to go play in the kids club. She isn't fond of strangers so this was the best option. She could still visit the nursery when she needed one on one babysitting, but we could take her to play with the bigger kids.

Notice her fingers again!

Alyssa got picked to go into the back for a special meet and greet with Snow White after the party. She couldn't stop talking about it.

We headed up to the Deck and got a little bite to eat before we got off the ship.

Once we got off the ship we stopped and talked to the Trolly Tour lady that was set up right at the pier. Pete and I knew we wanted to do the tour, but we talked Laura and Brandon into joining us too. It was a great deal, much cheaper then Disney charges and when you book the Trolly through Disney excursions you do not get the hop on and off option.

We waited for the next tour to start.

We got our seats and the tour started pretty soon.

Austin and I enjoyed it. LOL It was a really good tour. We saw some interesting sights.

By the time we got to the southern most point Alyssa was out like a light!

Austin had taken a little nap too so he was in a good mood once he woke up.

Chickens were everywhere!

We waited our turn for a picture and when we got there Alyssa didn't want to get up. She ended up in her family's picture and ours. Love her! She was not happy about her parents trying to make her get up. Look at that face!

We walked back to the bus stop and Alyssa found something she liked!

We got back on the Trolly and started towards one of the places I was most excited for....the Key West Winery!

We got off and walked a few blocks to the winery.

We bought some of the best wine ever! Key Limon. I LOVE it and can not wait to get more. I am hoarding one lone bottle, but I want alot more. LOL

We walked back to the ship after we were done at the winery. We wanted watch the sun set onboard.

I think we all liked Key West alot!

It had gotten hazy and the sunset was not as clear as it could have been.

We had to go get showered for dinner. One of the reason's I like the late dining is because you don't have to rush as much. You have more time before dinner.

The beauty of the Disney ships still amaze me.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay tonight. These chicken fingers were my favorite part of dinner tonight.

Alyssa was drawing some pictures to help pass the time. The dry erase board was nice to have at dinner.

We celebrated Alyssa's birthday tonight! The was her 3rd Birthday cruise!

Even with cake she needed a Mickey Bar.

After dinner Pete and I went to the club and it was 70's night. We enjoyed a good show before we headed up for bed!!!

Austin was with his Jersey Boy uncle so of course he practiced his fist pumping.

Alyssa enjoyed the Mickey Pool.

Pete and I decided to head to Lumier's for lunch. I love the details here.

Lunch was good. We finished in time to head to the DVC presentation before the matinee showing of Disney Villians.

Alyssa was excited for the show to start. So was I! I love some Villians. Malificent is my absolute favorite Disney Character!

The kids both loved it! LOL

After the show the kids went back to their room to sleep and Pete and I got ready for our brunch in Palo. I love Palo. Even though it was a differant ship, Palo still is sentimental to us. Makes us think of our first dance and our reception!!

The Tea was alot of fun. We enjoyed it. I am not a hot drink drinker, but I loved the desert! LOL

I snapped a picture of the private room. You have to have between 12 - 14 people to eat in here. It is really nice.

We had some proffessional pictures taken, but they turned out horrible. This is a good one I took of my sister's family.

Didn't Aunt Lisie do a good job picking out the kid's outfits? I love Austin's little suit! Sooo cute!

Alyssa looks so good in purple! She was in a posing kinda mood tonight!

After dinner we got in line to see the Characters in their fancy clothes!

Donald was up first!

Alyssa and Donald had a little dance!

We got back in line for Mickey and Minnie. Look at Alyssa and Uncle Petey sharing some love in line!

Pete is such a great Uncle and Alyssa loves him so much!

It's Mickey Mouse time.

Look at Alyssa's feet. She is a flip flop girl for sure! She was not a fan of the dress shoes!

I love Austin's face! LOL

Pete and I love Mickey too!

After Mickey Pete went to change. It was so hot and he wanted out of that suit. We went over to see Minnie next. She was dressed so pretty!

Kisses for Minnie Mouse!

I love that she held Austin! Sure he was only 4 months old on this trip, but we will always have these pictures to remnd him of the trip. Hopefully he will develope a love of Disney like his big sister has. She treasures the pictures from her "Baby Cruise".

You would think the portholes were there just for Alyssa. We took pictures of her everytime we passed one. In this one she is squeezing the heck out of Austin!

Another attempt at a family picture. LOL

Alyssa's shoelessness cracks me up every time. It was easier to let her take them off instead of fighting with a 3 year old at 11pm. LOL

We made it back to our room. I love the turn down service.

Pete and I changed our clothes and then we had a knock on our door. It was Alyssa...she was coming for our chocolats. Every night!!! LOL

Pete and I had changed and we took a bottle of wine and headed up to the deck. We talked alot, but mostly about buying DVC. A lot of my friends own and they love it. Our friends Shawn and Nichole bought on the cruise and they had warned up that the insentives would be good. They were right. Would we buy DVC? Stay tuned! LOL

I am booked for my family's first DCL cruise on the Magic for Thanksgiving 2012. Since we will be going out of Galveston, no CC or Key West for us. I am anxious to hear about your other port expierences. My DD will have just turned 3 on our cruise, so I am loving hearing about your niece's experiences. Both your niece and nephew are adorable!

Bummer about the Mickey waffles. I love the Mickey waffles at the parks.

Grand Cayman day! We woke up today and went to Lumier's for breakfast. It was a good breakfast and the service was great. We really like the sit down breakfasts. It is easier then the buffets with the kids since you don't have to hold a tray and a kids hand all at the same time. After breakfast we waited for them to announce that the tender boats were starting to take people to the Grand Cayman.

We had no real plan for today. We just wanted to go to Hell and send some post cards.

We got on the tender boat. It was my first time not pulling onto a port. What a neat experience.

OMG the water was the prettiest color ever! We were amazed!

Alyssa aka "Jessie" really enjoyed the ride.

Once we got off the boat, we had to walk through a security area.

Alyssa loves her Uncle Petey!

We were told which tent to return to after we were done on the island. I had done some research and found out that we could get a tour including Hell for about $10 a person. Well once we got here I couldn't find the sign advertizing that. I didn't know to bargin. My sister got scared talking to the van drivers and was afraid of getting killed or something (EYE ROLL) so they opted out of going to Hell. Seriously she has little kids to worry about so I understand.

We looked around and there was a shopping area set up with people selling all kinds of items. Like coconuts.

Look at this cutie pie!

Pete and I found a guy who took us to Visit the post office in Hell. He was also taking 3 Cast Members to the turtle farm so we got a bit of a tour. We saw some of the pubic beaches and it made me want to go swimming. I will know for next time.

We dropped the CM's off and then he took us. He told the girls he would be back in about 45 minutes.

We got our post cards and mailed them. Shame on my husband for not knowing his parents address! Then we looked around for a few minutes before heading back to the van. While we were heading back to the Van we ran into Lisa A fellow disboard member, who got her tour for $10 a person. UGH!!!!

This is Hell, Cayman Islands.

Looks it's me in Hell!

The driver left us in the van an went looking for the CM's at the turtle farm. I snapped this picture!

Look at the price of Gas!

We saw some more of the island on the way back to the ship.

They drive on the wrong side of the road and it was kinda scary!

We dropped the CM's off at Wendy's....yuk....and the driver said he would be back to pick them up since it was a really long walk back to the ship and it was getting very hot out.

Once we got back to the port we looked around a bit, but we didn't buy anything.

Once back on the ship Pete and I walked around some before grabbing some lunch.

Lunch was good, we went back to Lumier's again today.

If you want to order off of the kids menu, no one even questions it! LOL

After lunch we headed back to the room. Austin and my sister came over to visit before we headed to the matinee show of Twiced Charmed.

Pete and I took Austin and went to save us seats since no one else was ready. Austin flipped out and cried like a big baby (HA!) so we had to take him back to my sister. I met them at the door and he stopped crying soon as she swooped him up. Figures!

I loved the Matinee shows. We had good seats and the show started just about as soon as we sat down!

After the show Pete and I went to our room to get ready for Palo!!! We got married on the Disney Wonder and had our reception in Palo. It holds a special place in our hearts!

Empty pools on the way to Palo!

That is the same dress I wore on our wedding night, then again last year on our 1st Anniversary, and on this trip (celebrating our 2nd anniversary).